The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) RISE program's mission is to increase the number of Hispanic students that graduate in the sciences, pursue and complete PhD degrees in biomedical or behavioral science. The specific goals of the UTPA RISE program are: 1) Increase undergraduate student retention and graduation rates in the sciences; 2) Increase the number of UTPA graduates that continue on to pursue graduate degrees PhDs in biomedical or behavioral research and completes them; 3) Increase the biomedical research infrastructure at UTPA by strengthening the collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and Edinburg Regional Academic Health Center (UTHSCSA E- RAHC) located on the UTPA campus; and 4) Increase the community's awareness of the necessity of biomedical research and the role UTPA plays servicing these needs. To accomplish these goals the UTPA RISE program will target freshman and train them as cohorts as they matriculate through their undergraduate education preparing them for graduate school. Students will participate in a series of activities designed to increase their scientific knowledge, strengthen their research experience and prepare them to matriculate into graduate school. RISE activities for freshman and sophomores include: research as a career academic advising, cross-disciplinary laboratory techniques courses, biomedical/behavioral laboratory research with research mentors at UTPA and the E-RAHC, and external summer research at the University of Texas, Baylor College of Medicine or Texas A&M University. Junior and senior undergraduate activities include: intense laboratory research at UTPA and the E-RAHC, presenting at national conferences, and workshops on how to apply to graduate school and work life balance. Additional RISE activities will help establish a biomedical research environment at UTPA like data reviews and seminars by external speakers. Several institutional programs will also be implemented under the direction of the RISE program that strengthen the academic curriculum, increase student placement in graduate programs, and increase community awareness of biomedical/behavioral research. Collectively, this program will increase the number of Hispanics that obtain PhDs in the biomedical and behavioral science fields. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed project is designed to increase the number of Hispanics that graduate in the sciences, pursue PhD degrees in biomedical or behavioral science and complete them. This will contribute to a larger ethnically diverse number of successful researchers in biomedical and behavioral science disciplines.